21 



Other Means of Protecting Fruit. 



Birds eat fruit not only for food but for the juices, which 

 often serve to take the place of water in dry weather, A 

 drinking fountain or a brook close at hand may serve to take 

 some of their attention from the fruit. Newly turned sod also 

 may attract robins and some other birds away from fruit, as 

 they seem to prefer worms and grubs. A fertile, well-watered 

 lawn sometimes answers the same purpose, as it keeps the 

 earthworms near the surface where the robins can find them. 



As a last resort, where one has but one or two cherry trees 

 and no room for experiments, the trees may be covered with a 

 fine-meshed fish net, but birds may become entangled in the 

 net. 



Plants for the Seashore. 



Mr. McAtee in his excellent bulletin (621) gives the follow- 

 ing hints regarding plants for attracting birds at the seaside: — 



Where the coast is rocky and the soil of ordinary character, conditions 

 are little different from those inland, and except in relation to exposure 

 there need be no especial preference given in the choice of plants. It is 

 worth mentioning, however, that several trees and shrubs are better 

 adapted to withstand the winds so prevalent on the coast. These include 

 three species of juniper (Juniperus communis, J. horizontalis and /. vir- 

 giniana), common barberry, English thorn, hybrid crab apple, European 

 and American mountain ashes, smooth and staghorn sumacs, privets, 

 buckthorn and red-berried elder. Where the soil is chiefly sand, and that 

 often shifting, conditions are not suited to many plants. Selection may 

 be made, however, from the following, all of which are known to thrive 

 in such surroundings : — 



For Seed Eaters. — Beach grass (Ammophila arenaria and Calamovilfa 

 longijolia), Polygonum sachalinense and sunflower. 



For Fruit Eaters. — Bayberry (Myrica carolinensis) , sea buckthorn 

 {Hippophae rhamnoides), sand cherry {Prunus pumila or P. cuneata), 

 beach plum {Prunus maritima), cranberries and bearberry (Ardostaphylos 

 uva-tirsi). 



Shelter Plants and Shelter Woods. 



One great defect in parks and private estates is that there 

 are few safeguarded thickets in which birds of the open can 

 nest, and to which they can fly for protection from their winged 



